Roja / Amar Akbar Anthony

What a relief! Something besides the same old same old sad black and white art house films.

Starting with Roja :
Roja was such an over the top film. I haven't seen anything like it. So nationalist. So patriotic. To me it felt like the equivalent of a guy holding a gun in one hand and a bible in the other with an airbrushed mural of  a bald eagle behind him with the words "Freedom ain't free" in red white and blue letters. The story was easily digested but at some points the acting was so bad that it hurt. The woman playing Roja is constantly running around flocking and screeching about her husband being kidnapped. She is very over dramatic and a bit disappointing  I was excited to see that she was a strong willed Indian woman in the beginning of the film. Somewhat defiant, sassy, and goal oriented. But of course that was short lived as soon as she comes around to her husband, at which point she becomes this helpless naieve little girl with no direction. When Rishi is kidnapped, the shit hits the fan. Roja spirals into a frenzy of yelling and running against the backdrop of a very unimpressed military. I thought it was cool how the film took people from southern India (Roja) and plunged them into the more modern, westernized North India (specifically Kasmir). I think the split second that the film focuses on that cultural dissonance  is the most interesting part. I feel a little offended by the film even though I'm not Muslim. It was so over the top hindu and over the top India that it was hard to watch (in the same way that its hard to watch Die Hard or any film that generalizes any sort of ethnic group or religious group. The flag burning scene, or rather the flag SAVING scene was so ridiculous  The song that played in the background was some sort of Indian nationalist tune as if I needed another reminder that this film was pro India. I wish there was more of a moderate Muslim voice in the films we have examined, because this film made them look like crazy terrorists. Crazy, weak, unable terrorists. Over all the movie wasn't bad but it does warrant a shake of the head and a rub of the temples to help you cope with the cheese.

Amar Akbar Anthony was awesome. As a guy that loves the "so bad it's good" genre of movie, Amar Akbar Anthony was right up my alley. It was overall a comedy which was nice and light hearted. The story is totally unbelievable and improbable but really, who cares? It's fun to just enjoy a crazy story unfold in front of you. The interplay of religion is interesting, but really its the examination of 3 different types of Indian young men that make the movie interesting to me. Since all three boys are so different its cool to see how they each fall in love, solve problems, and understand the world. Something else I enjoyed about the film was a bad guy that was generally secular, that way there was no obvious religious critique or attack. Really the only critique is in how the young men act and represent their respective religions. The actors are so charming that its hard not to like them. It's very over active and over done and that is nice when you have big modern song and dance sequences, cheeky fight sequences, and over the top charming romances. Quite the break from the politically charged, depressing films of the 40s and 50s. Such a good movie to end on. The secular themes in the film are nice and not over done, the actors are overactive and charming, the story is engaging (despite how unreal it may be) and the cinematography is about as good as you can get for 1977 Bollywood! Never would I have ever believed you if you told me I would have a song from a 1977 Indian film stuck in my head, but of course this one won't stop playing on repeat...

Thanks Bollywood.

India - home of sadness.

Garam Hawa, in classic Indian art house films, is ANOTHER sad ass movie. I think that this class has made me hyper critical of high production happy films or god forbid children's movies. I think this film was particularly successful in the way that it presented the social stress that partition (and general class or religious dispute) put on families at that time. There are so many aspects of partition that are left un attended and once we cover one I always tend to feel like that is it but it never is. It was interesting to see how the director completely removed the personification of the villan from the film and replaced it with a disembodied voice. It made for a very uneasy/tense experience. I felt as if there was no peace or outlet for the feelings I had for all of the characters. Either way Garam Hawa ended again with the death of a young woman over marriage (or lack there of) and the demise of her ability to function without the support of a man. I feel like these directors all attempt to give women a stance or a platform by making their stories so tragic, which in turn only makes people feel guilt and sadness rather than conviction, but who knows, maybe it works.

Meghe Dhaka Tara, another black and white film, followed suit in being completely depressing. The family members all happened to play very extreme roles. Nothing really subtle about this movie. Lots of patriarchy, but the mother seems to challenge that a little bit as she sways everyones decisions. I'm not so sure how I feel about this film on a personal level. I think I'm ready for something light hearted. It's strange because Indian films don't tend to have those brief moments of comic relief that American films have. What is that french word for "pleasure in misery"? I heard it once in passing and made a mental note to remember it but of course I didn't. Well whatever that word is, I think it describes the Indian art house movie industry. This film had so much less historical influence and was so much more personal, which makes it that much more astonishing that people watch them for recreation. I imagine that the process of picking all of these films was a depressing one. At this point in my life I think I NEED something more light hearted. If I have to stay up until 2:30am again writing about these depressing Indian films I'm going to really decline into some sort of depressive state I don't think I'm fully prepared to handle. If I watch one more Indian girl grip the hem of someones garment in pleading it's going to kill me.

*sigh*